Facing the Sunshine and Avoiding the Shadows: Strategies to Stay Sane and Positive Amid Change

By Becky Johnen

Heraclitus of Ephasus, a Greek philosopher, once said, Nothing endures but change. Sometimes the change in our lives comes by choice, and working through it is easy. Other changes are thrust upon us and cant be avoided; these changes may present challenges. When they come along, its important to meet them head on to ensure smooth transitions.

This guide to successfully adapting to change offers strategies that can position you to succeed. You can learn how to

improve your responses to change by studying successful people; develop a support network to help you meet challenges; harness enthusiasm and use positive thinking to your advantage; and preserve your sanity by cultivating a sense of humor.

Since change is a constant in every life, we must learn to accept it and embrace it. You can let go of your fear and develop the necessary skills to cope with and respond to change in order to lead a happy, more productive life. Facing the Sunshine and Avoiding the Shadows provides a road map to help get you there.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Inspiring Voices
• Release date: Sep 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9781462407477

Becky Johnen

Becky Johnen, EdD, is an educator, motivational speaker, author, and retired teacher and college administrator. She has conducted workshops and presentations on teaching and learning, dealing with change, strategic planning, and leadership for more than three decades. Dr. Johnen lives with her husband and her nephew in southwestern Pennsylvania.

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Copyright © 2013 Becky Johnen.

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ISBN: 978-1-4624-0746-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4624-0747-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013916847

Inspiring Voices rev. date: 9/24/2013

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Change: What Is It, and Why Is It So Difficult?

Preserving Sanity: Persistence

Preserving Sanity: Relationships

Preserving Sanity: Enthusiasm

Preserving Sanity: Sense of Humor

Preserving Sanity: Ending Something

Preserving Sanity: Roaming the Wilderness

Preserving Sanity: Vision

Preserving Sanity: Irreverent Thinking

Preserving Sanity: Negotiating Roadblocks

Preserving Sanity: Giggling

Preserving Sanity: Savoring Mistakes

Preserving Sanity: Atta Persons

Preserving Sanity: New Style of Thinking

Preserving Sanity: Innovativeness

Preserving Sanity: Taking Risks

Preserving Sanity: You Have to Dream Big

Conclusion

Reader Reflection

About the Author

References

Bibliography

To my mom and dad for laying the groundwork.

To my husband, Bob, for his support, love, and understanding.

To St. Elias Byzantine Catholic Church’s Bethany Ministry participants for their inspiration and motivation.

PREFACE

This book came about because of a conference presentation. During the 1980s and early ’90s, I was working at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon, as the associate dean for developmental education. In 1993, I relocated to my home state of Pennsylvania, where I took a position as dean for the Lebanon campus of Harrisburg Area Community College. During this same time, I was very active in the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA), frequently presenting at its conferences.

Also during this time, I watched my staff and colleagues become frustrated, angry, depressed, fearful, and stressed over changes happening in postsecondary education. How best to help those with whom I worked most closely became a passion of mine. In fact, for the CRLA’s 1997 annual conference (whose theme was Pearls of Wisdom), I submitted a proposal to speak on dealing with change. But what focus should that presentation take?

The inspiration for the focus of the presentation came while sitting on an airplane and waiting for it to depart. The flight attendant was going through her preflight instructions and said, "The cabin is pressurized for your comfort, but in the event of an emergency, oxygen masks will automatically appear. If you are traveling with young children, put your own oxygen mask on first and then put the mask on your children."

Aha, I thought. That is it.

That is it. Those instructions got me to thinking about taking care of ourselves, especially in our daily lives since we tend to go around putting oxygen masks on everyone else. Sometimes, we forget to put our own oxygen mask on first. Oxygen rejuvenates; it gives us stamina. If we don’t start taking care of ourselves first, we can become depleted, drained, and burned out. We need stamina to deal with everyday challenges, such as those that I saw my staff and colleagues facing. These challenges included being asked to do more and more with less and less, having many needs but not enough resources to meet those needs, and being asked to do the impossible.

Life presents many challenges, and we admirably deal with these, but at what cost to our personal well-being? As challenges mount, we often feel stressed and depleted of energy. It’s all the little things, all of the things that stack one by one on top of us. It’s like the saying, You can get nibbled to death by ducks. No one takes a big bite, but all those nibbles eventually get to you. So that this doesn’t happen, we need to be conscious of what oxygenates us, what keeps us going. And we need to make a conscious effort to pay attention to the warning signs of oxygen depletion and get that mask on in time, so we don’t collapse.

To effectively deal with change, we must first take care of ourselves before we can even think about negotiating the change or helping others work in the new/changed environment. How do we take care of ourselves? A quote from Helen Keller—Keep your face to the sunshine and you will never see the shadow—came to mind, and my presentation on change had its focus (Keller 2013). I titled the presentation Facing the Sunshine and Avoiding the Shadows: Strategies to Stay Sane and Positive amid Change.

The presentation highlighted sixteen strategies for dealing with change, sixteen oxygen sources to face the sunshine and avoid the shadows. To help participants remember the strategies, PRESERVING SANITY served as an acronym, with each letter representing a strategy. (There is no significance to the order of the strategies.) This book puts to print the ideas shared in that 1997 conference presentation as well as those that have come about after sixteen years of speaking on the topic.

To those who read this book, it is my heartfelt wish that there are some pearls of wisdom that help when undergoing change and transition or just help with daily life issues.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am indebted to Jimmy Pickett, a friend who took time from his private practice as a psychologist to critique sections of the book. Through his insight, wisdom, and professional expertise, he has helped make this book a much stronger and more useful resource. You are truly a touchstone in my life.

Dr. Bill Segura, who served as president of Chemeketa Community College from the early 1980s until the early 1990s, was an outstanding mentor. I am grateful to him for all the lessons on leadership and organizational change and for bringing Dr. William Bridges to our campus. The lessons Bridges taught us have remained with me all these years and have had a profound and positive influence on my leadership style as well as my view of change/transition.

Over the past thirty years, the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) has provided many learning opportunities for me, including providing a forum for the sharing of ideas. I am so appreciative of all my CRLA colleagues. I especially want to thank Dr. Karen Agee for her unique way of looking at things and for her support and inspiration. I also want to note my appreciation of Dr. Valerie Smith-Stephens for her notes of encouragement and motivation.

CHANGE: WHAT IS IT, AND WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT?

Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.